The Three Tenses
“The salvation of the righteous is from the LORD, their refuge in a time of distress” (Psalm 37:39).
Satan will take advantage of every situation that comes his way in order to disable a Christian.
And he will not hesitate to use chaotic world conditions and problems to oppose the mind.
But God’s answer to this is:
The helmet of salvation.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:8 –
Paul is not talking about the salvation of the soul when he says:
“We must be sober and put the armour of faith and love on our chests, and put on a helmet of the hope of salvation.”
This text throws a shaft of light on Paul’s statement in Ephesians 6:17:
“Take the helmet of salvation,” for it shows salvation, not just as something in the past, but something that is also a future “hope.”
He uses the word salvation the same way in Romans when he writes:
“Our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Rom 13:11).
In the Bible-
The word salvation has three distinct tenses-
– past, present, and future.
At conversion, we were saved from the penalty of sin.
At present, day by day, we are being saved from the power of sin.
And one day in the future, we shall be saved from the presence of sin.
It is to the future-
Paul is looking when he invites us to put on the helmet of salvation.